Although May 15th is the official start of the 2013 turtle nesting season according to the Comité de Protección a la Tortuga Marina, brigades in search of early nests have already discovered 5 nests in Cozumel.

Cozumel is fortunate to be a protected breeding area to two species of turtles, the loggerhead (careta careta) and the green turtle (chelonian mydas). During the months of May through September these turtles come ashore to lay their eggs on Cozumel’s eastern beaches. Sea turtles generally lay between 150-200 eggs each time and can nest up to 6 times in a breeding season. The eggs take around 60 days to incubate before the baby turtles head toward the sea.

If you’re arriving from the US and have a little extra room in your suitcase, the biologists are looking for headlamps, the flashlights worn on your head, to keep your hands free, as well as rolls of fluorescent marking tape. To find out more about the program, or to get involved, please contact Rafael Chacon, the Director of the Municipal Department of Ecology, greenpez@hotmail.com or call 872 5795.

We’ll keep you updated as turtle season progresses.

This story originally appeared in the weekly Cozumel 4 You NEWS – the island’s number one source of positive information about our island! Be sure and subscribe to the weekly NEWS to find out all the island events!…